Home > Training: HTML-based help: Developing Microsoft Help 2.0
 

Microsoft Help 2.0: Design and Strategy Seminar

Availability: Public or onsite
Course duration: 2 days
Hands-on? No - discussion and demonstration (hands-on course is coming - check back for details)
Cost: Contact us for pricing

If you've been wondering what's next on the agenda for Microsoft's online Help, this seminar is for you! With Microsoft HTML Help MVP Cheri Lockett Zubak as your guide, this full-day session will provide an in-depth preview of the features and implications of Microsoft's forthcoming online Help standard for all Help developers. Due for release in 2002, Help 2.0 is the much-awaited Microsoft online Help development standard. This next-generation technology, which works side-by-side with Microsoft HTML Help 1.x, offers many new features for Help authors and developers, including extensive support for emerging web technologies like DHTML and XML, and popular Help models, such as embedding and customized help design.

This day-long seminar takes a detailed look at the issues surrounding the creation of a Help 2.0 project and will examine the planning you will need to do before moving to this new Help standard. During the session you'll see how to build an actual, working context-sensitive Help system, and be given lots of examples of how Microsoft Help works, including a look at custom viewers created with the new architecture. You'll grapple with realistic, practical issues that you are likely to face as you move to adopt the newest Windows Help standard.

The seminar topics include:

• Understanding the design and features of the standard viewer
• Comparing Microsoft Help 2.0 to WinHelp, HTML Help 1.x, and standard HTML-based Help systems: What are its features and benefits? What does it have in common with its predecessors? What's different?
• Converting from existing Microsoft Help standards, such as HTML Help 1.x - Why, when, and how should you do this?
• Creating a project from start to finish with the new Microsoft Help Workshop, beginning with developing a project through implementing context-sensitive Help
• Implementing new features, such as filters, multiple indexes and new linking capabilities
• Understanding collections, the new mechanism for modular Help systems
• Deploying Help 2.0 to users
• Expectations of Help authoring tool support for Microsoft Help
Attendees at this seminar should have some previous experience of Microsoft HTML Help 1.x development.

Note: Outlines are subject to change without notice but will cover the same content.

Course outline

Part 1. What is Microsoft Help 2.0?

• A side-by-side architecture
• System requirements
• How is Help 2.0 deployed?
• Development schedule

Part 2. How Do Microsoft Help and HTML Help 1.x Compare?

• Is Help 2.0 so different?
• Features HTML Help and Help 2.0 share
• New features in Microsoft Help 2.0
• About the Microsoft Help Workshop

Part 3. What Does Microsoft Help 2.0 Look Like?

• The status of the standard viewer
• Problems with the HTML Help 1.x viewer
• A Look at the DExplore Viewer
• A summary of our speculations

Part 4. Desconstructing a Help 2.0 project

• A review of equivalencies
• Creating a project
• About the project file/collections (.HxC)
• A look at the initial .HxC file
• About the file list (.HxF)
• The construction of the .HxF
• A look at namespaces
• Registering a namespace

Part 5. Deconstructing Help Topics

• A review of equivalencies
• Are topics different?
• Adding topics to a project
• A look at topic titles
• Editing the topic titles in the Help Workshop
• A look at external virtual topics (.HxV)
• The construction of the .HxV
• A look at sample definition files (.HxE)

Part 6. Filtering Topics with Attributes

• Why filter topics?
• What are attributes?
• Creating an attribute file
• What is a filter?
• Filtering topics with attributes

Part 7. Deconstructing Help 2.0 Navigation

• A review of equivalencies
• About the table of contents (.HxT)
• Creating a table of contents
• The construction of the .HxT
• About the index (.HxK)
• Why have multiple indexes?
• Creating an index
• The construction of the .HxK
• Compiling the index
• Adding keywords to topics
• The "named URL" index
• Adding the full-text search

Part 8. Developing Links in Help 2.0

• What can you link to?
• What kinds of links can you use?
• Creataing links with ms-help:
• Creating links with keywords
• Developing keyword links
• Creating keyword tables
• Controlling styles for keyword links

Part 9. Developing Multifile Collections

• A review of equivalencies
• What are multifile collections?
• Differences from HTML Help
• What additional files are created?
• The master .HxC
• What are the ItemMonikers?
• Merging tables of contents
• Merging indexes
• Merging attributes

Part 10. Building and Viewing Your Help Systems

• The build process
• How does the compiler work?
• How do you open a Help 2.0 system?

Part 11. Developing Context-Sensitivity

• How is context-sensitivity the same?
• How is it different?
• The new methodology for product integration
• The contruction of the context-sensitivity index

Part 12. Transitioning HTML Help to Microsoft Help 2.0

• Adapting your mindset
• Converting a project
• Using the command line
• What is converted?
• What isn't converted?

Part 13. Deploying Microsoft Help 2.0

• Developing collections
• Deploying on removable media
• Installing the Help 2.0 runtime

Part 14. A Few Thoughts to Wrap Up

• Is Help 2.0 a good move?
• Challenges to consider
• Assessing your skill set
• About the Help 2.0 tutorial
• Microsoft Help 2.0 certification

Last updated, September 2002

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